Marshall Municipal Utilities

Board Meeting Minutes

August 28, 2007

The Board of Public Works convened the regular session at 8:30 a.m. at the Marshall Municipal Utilities Business Office. Present were Jim Heinzler, President; Spencer Fricke, Vice President; Charles Hird, Secretary; and Mike Mills, member. Also present were Linda and Terry Clark.

The agenda was approved as amended to include an executive session to discuss matters related to property acquisition on a motion by Mr. Mills, seconded by Mr. Hird.

Mr. Clark (30 W. Highlander) stated that he and his wife had received a very high utility bill in August. Mr. Clark explained that the electric meter at their house was read with a remote meter because the house meter was inaccessible due to the yard being fenced in because of a pool. Mr. Clark said that after reading the remote meter in August, the Meter Reader thought the reading was not right and, with Mrs. Clark’s permission, read the actual meter on the house to make a comparison. Mr. Clark said the comparison showed a significant difference between the remote meter reading and the house meter reading. Mr. Clark stated that MMU personnel changed out the remote meter and also changed out the house meter. Electric Distribution Director Jeff Bergstrom stated the house meter was tested and was within an acceptable range. Mr. Clark requested that an adjustment be made to their electric bill due to faulty equipment on MMU’s part. Mr. Heinzler indicated MMU management would analyze the data from the meters and the Board would make a decision at the next meeting. Mr. and Mrs. Clark left the meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as printed on a motion by Mr. Fricke, seconded by Mr. Mills.

Environmental Services Director Ginny Ismay reported both aerators at the Water Treatment Plant need some modification and maintenance. On a motion by Mr. Mills, seconded by Mr. Fricke, the Board approved proceeding with the aerator maintenance project.

Director Ismay reported the Waverly water line is essentially complete.

Administrative Services Director Ken Gieringer asked the Board to review the draft budget for discussion at the next meeting.

Electric Production Director Jim Johnson reported Units #4 and #5 tripped off during the recent electrical outage. Unit #5 was put back on line, but Unit #4 will remain out of service for a short time for some maintenance. Director Johnson indicated the summer testing of the units for MoPEP has been done with only some minor problems noted. Unit #3 was not tested.

It was the consensus of the Board to grant Director Johnson’s request to allow one of the summer hires to continue to work on a part-time basis at the Power Plant during the school year.

General Manager Kyle Gibbs reported discussions have been conducted with MoPEP concerning Unit #3. This unit has a very high start-up and operating cost. MoPEP has agreed to increase the credits from Unit’s #4 and #5 in exchange for removing Unit #3 from the Pool. The overall capacity payment from MoPEP would be increased. It was the consensus of the Board to proceed with the negotiations with MoPEP to eliminate Unit #3 from the Pool.

Underground Facilities Director Monty Chase reported the water leak at Eastwood and Brunswick has been fixed. The sewer main at Jefferson and Yerby has been repaired but the site work will be done after Municipal Services has completed their storm sewer work in the area. Approximately 65 manholes have been completed for the manhole rehabilitation project. This project should be completed some time next week.

During the last lightning storm August 24, both pump houses lost power. The overheating problem continues with the diesel engine driven pump, but a temporary solution was found. Water pressure was low over most of the town because of a water main break. Since the water pressure fell below 20 psi, a boil water advisory was issued around midnight Friday, August 24. After the main was repaired and water testing completed, the advisory was lifted at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 26. Director Chase indicated discussions are being held to analyze the situation and take steps to keep it from happening again.

The following bids were opened August 24, 2007, for selling used and junk transformers:

				Lump Sum 
				(Per kV)

B&B Transformer			$9.94	(all)
    Farmington, MN
T&R Supply Co.			$7.66	(all)
    Colman, SD
Soloman Corp.			$7.90	(all)
    Solomon, KS
Jerry’s Electric		$6.10	(all)
    Colman, SD
Delta-Y Elec. Service		$3.95	(all)
    Sedgewickville, MO
City of Salisbury		$0.62	(used only)
    Salisbury, MO
City of Slater			10 KVA (2) = $60.00	50 KVA (3) = $300.00
    Slater, MO			15 KVA (1) = $40.00	225 KVA (1) = $225.00
				25 KVA (8) = $560.00	500 KVA (1) = $1,000.00
				37.5 KVA (1) = $50.00

On a motion by Mr. Hird, seconded by Mr. Fricke, the Board accepted the bid from B&B Transformer for both the used and junk transformers.

Electric Distribution Director Jeff Bergstrom explained the electrical outages that occurred on August 16 and 24. Director Bergstrom indicated there is a relaying issue at the North Street Substation that is causing numerous problems. Modifications to this substation are included in the budget for next year.

The Board thanked all MMU employees that were involved in helping to restore the electricity and water that were lost during the outages.

Director Bergstrom reported changes are needed to the policy concerning three-phase electric service requirements to prevent MMU spending an unreasonable amount on small three-phase electric services with no chance of recovering equipment and labor costs. Guidelines are being developed.

The Board took no action concerning the MSDC Economic Development Agreement, which allows the agreement to renew automatically.

General Manager Gibbs reported MPUA will be discussing several important issues in the coming months, including:

• Buying a bigger facility to operate in
• Taking over the tagging operation from Westar
• Conducting a rate study
• Adding new staff

On a motion by Mr. Fricke, seconded by Mr. Mills, accounts payable were approved and warrants ordered issued from the following funds:

	WATER OPERATING FUND		$	 74,562.94
	ELECTRIC OPERATING FUND		$	436,091.51
	SEWER REVENUE FUND		$	 93,775.21
	INTERNET OPERATING FUND		$	  8,780.24
	NATURAL GAS OPERATING FUND	$	  2,375.57
	ELECTRIC CONSUMERS DEPOSIT FUND	$	  3,150.00

The Board voted unanimously to adjourn the regular meeting at 9:55 a.m. to go into an executive session to discuss matters related to property acquisition, (Mo. Rev. Stat. 610.021 [2], if authorized). Roll call:
Mike Mills yes
Jim Heinzler yes
Spencer Fricke yes
Charles Hird yes